Deity of Śrī Rādhā-Raman Ji

Before the arrival of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Vrindāvana, Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī and Śrī Bhūgarbha Gosvāmī came here. Being very humble and without any possessions (akincana), they performed bhajana at the many pastime places in Vraja-mandal. Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī found the deity of Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda in Kisori-kuṇḍa in Umrāo-gaon near Chatravana and served Them there. Later, on the request of Rūpa, Sanātana and the other Gosvāmīs, he brought his worshipful Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda to Vrindāvana and began to worship Them near the temple of Śrī Rādhā-Raman. Nowadays, the original deity that was worshipped by Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī is in Jaipura, and the pratibhū-vigraha is worshipped in that same temple in Vrindāvana.

Śrī Gokulānanda, who appeared at Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa through Śrī Visvanātha Cakravarti Thākura, also arrived in this temple later on. The govardhana-silā given by Śrīman Mahāprabhu to Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī used to be present here. The original deity of Śrī Gokulānanda is now also situated in Jaipura with Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda. In the courtyard of the temple are the samādhis of Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī, Śrī Narottama thākura and Śrī Visvanātha Cakravarti Thākura.

The Pratibhu Vigrah of Śrī Radha Gokulanand Ji

Śrī Syāmasundara Temple

The temple of Śrī Syāmasundara is situated near the Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara Temple. Śrī Rādhā-Syāmasundara, the deities established and worshipped by gaudiya-vedānta-ācārya Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūsaña, are very beautiful. Opposite the entrance door of the temple is the samādhi of Śrī Syāmānanda Prabhu. Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūsañ was born in a village near the famous Remunā in Orissa. He studied grammar, rhetoric and logic in an academic village on the bank of Cilkā-hrada. After this, he went to Mysore to study the Vedas. In Udupi, he deeply studied Madhva-bhāsya along with Sankara-bhāsya, Pārijāta-bhāsñya and other commentaries (bhāsyas) on the Vedānta. After some time, he studied in Śrī Dhāma Jagannātha Puri the Say-sandarbhas under Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara, a disciple of Śrī Rasikānanda Prabhu.

At this time, he came to know of Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara’s profound scholarship and devout life and became his disciple. Later on, in Vrindāvana, he studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the books of the Gosvāmīs from the famous gaudiya rasikācārya Śrī Visvanātha Cakravarti Thākura and, on his instruction, went to Jaipura. At the well-known Galtā in Jaipura, he defeated the scholars of the Śrī sampradāya and other opponents to the Gaudiya line, and established the deity of Śrī Vijaya-gopāla. To increase the faith of the local scholars, he composed Śrī Govinda-bhāsya on Brahma sūtra there, and re-installed Śrī Rādhā ji beside Śrī Govindadeva in the famous Govinda Temple.

Śrī Banke-Bihari Ji of Śrī Dham Vrindavan

Svāmī Haridāsa recovered Śrī Bānke-bihāri from Visākhā Kund in Nidhuvana. In this temple there is no deity of Śrī Rādhikā next to Kṛṣṇa. On Aksaya-tritiyā in the month of Vaisākha, one can have darsana of Śrī Bānke-bihāri lotus feet. Śrī Bānke-bihāri previously resided in Nidhuvana, but then moved to the present temple.

During the Muslim oppression, Śrī Bānke-bihāri ji secretly stayed in Vrindāvana and did not leave. The darsana of Śrī Bānke bihāri is performed in a very special way. The curtain is drawn every few minutes, thus making the darsana very short. This is known as jhāìki-darsana, “a momentary darsana”. The reason for this brief darçana is His bhakta-vātsalya (particular affection for His devotees) and His rasika nature.

The following pastime demonstrates this.

Once, an eminent bhakta came for Śrī Bānke-bihāri’s darsana. He gazed intently at the deity for a long time. Rasika Bānke-bihāri ji became so attracted to him that He went with him to his village. Later, when the gosvāmis of Bihāri ji came to know of this, they traced Him and, after much pleading brought the deity back to the temple. After this incident, a momentary darsana was introduced so that no one again can gaze upon Him for a long time.

The unique feature of the Bānke-bihāri ji Temple is that there is no mangala-ārati. The gosvāmis of this temple say that because Thākurajī performs rāsa every night, He becomes exhausted and goes to sleep in the early morning and it is therefore improper to wake Him at that time.

Śrī Yugal-Kishore ji is situated in Kisorivana, or Vyasa-ghira,near Śrī Seva-Kunj in Vrindavan. Mādhava dāsa, a disciple of Śrī Mādhavendra Puri, was a famous bhakta ācārya. Śrī Nābhā dāsa has described his character in Bhakta-māla. His disciple, Abhirāma Vyāsa, a resident of Orachā, revealed this deity through Harirāma Vyāsaji. Nearby in the garden is the samādhi of Śrī Vyāsaji.

There is a second Yugal-Kishor ji whose temple lies on a hillock near Kesi-ghāta. Jhānnā-Pannā Rājā established this temple. During the reign of Mughal emperor Akbara, the two Rājapūta brothers Haridāsa Thākura and Govinda dāsa Thākura built the emple of a third Yugala-Kisoraji. The brothers were from the family of Tomara and belonged to the village of Nimkāthānā in Rajasthan.

Śrī Sāha ji Temple

A resident of Lucknow, Seth kuṇḍanalāla Sāha, constructed this grand, white marble-stone temple in 1835 AD at great expense. He was an unalloyed devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This temple presently gives some idea of the incomparable grandeur of Vrindāvana in previous times.

Śrī Ranga ji Temple

In 1851 AD‚ Śrī Laksmi canda Seth built this temple at the expense of 4.5 million rupees. Following the style of the famous Śrī Rangam Temple in South India, Śrī Ranga ji presides in the main temple within many walls, with Laksmi-devi massaging His feet.

At the eastern gate of the temple is a huge Garuda-stambha, which is completely covered with gold leaf. The general public call it Sone kā Tāla-vriksa, “The Golden Palm Tree”. Near the main entrance, in the north, is a pond. Yearly on Baladeva-pūrnimā, the pastime of the fight between the elephant Gajendra and the crocodile is displayed in this pond, with Śrī Hari protecting the surrendered elephant. Near the western door is a huge chariot, upon which Śrī Ranga ji rides on special occasions.